Brendan Behan Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline Writers Brendan Behan Biography Brendan Behan was a famous Irish poet, novelist and playwright. Explore this biography to learn more about his childhood, life, works and timeline. Quick Facts Beatrice Salkeld Image Credit One of the most influential Irish literary figures of the 20th century, Brendan Behan was known for his rugged, earthy satire and powerful political commentary. He was raised in a family that was revolutionary active against the British and as a result, his childhood and early days were steeped in rich Irish history, culture and literature. Many of his works reflect his patriotism which is largely influenced by the sort of literature he chose to indulge in and the patriotic ballads that he was made to listen to. This sort of nationalism grew on him and he joined the Irish Republican Army. As a result of his revolutionary activities, he was sent to prison in both England and Ireland and after a number of jail terms, he learnt to speak Irish fluently and wrote two of his most illustrious plays; âThe Quare Fellowâ and âThe Hostageâ, the latter one was made into a Broadway production and vaulted him onto the world dais.

Despite professional success, his personal life was laden with serious alcohol problem, which resulted in high-risk diabetes and his eventual death. Childhood & Early Life Brendan Francis Behan was born into a working-class family in Dublin, Ireland. His parents, Stephen Behan and Kathleen were ardent supporters of the Irish War. His love for literature and his political views against the British can be attributed to his motherâs political beliefs and his fatherâs love for Irish works. He started drinking from the age of 8, which took a serious toll on his body later on. At the age of 13, he left school and decided to become a house painter. In 1937, his family moved to a new local authority housing scheme in Crumlin. He then joined the youth organization of the IRA and published his first set of poems and prose in the magazine, âFianna: The Voice of Young Irelandâ. At the age of 16, he joined the IRA and was sent on a mission to London where he was asked to blow up Liverpool docks. He possessed explosives and as a result was arrested and sentenced to three years of prison in a borstal.

Upon returning to Ireland in 1941, he documented his experiences at the Borstal in an autobiography, which was released much later. Later on, he was tried for the attempted murder of the detectives of the Garda Siochana. He was incarcerated and sentenced to fourteen years in prison. He recollected all these experiences in another book titled, âConfessions of an Irish Rebelâ. In 1946, he tried to put a stop to his rebellious activist side but not before serving a short term in jail for trying to get a fellow IRA member out of Manchester jail. Writing Career Brendan Behanâs prison experiences became the central theme for his writing career. While at Mountjoy Prison, he wrote his first play, âThe Landladyâ and also began to dabble with other short-stories and prose. In 1950s, he left Ireland to settle in Paris. It was there that he indulged in alcoholism and started to earn a living by writing pornography. By the time he returned to Ireland, he ahd attracted a lot of negative attraction due to his drinking habit.

However, he soon realized that in order to succeed, he would have to discipline himself. He started to contribute religiously to âThe Irish Timesâ and other newspapers. Additionally, his work, âThe Leaving Partyâ was even broadcast on radio. In 1954, he earned his first major breakthrough with his play, âThe Quare Fellowâ. The play became so popular that it ran for 6 months. Two years later, it opened at the illustrious, Theatre Royal Stratford East. In 1957, his Irish play, âAn Giallâ (The Hostage in English language adaptation) debuted in the Damer Theater, Dublin. The following year, after much commercial success, he chronicled his life in Bsorstal in his autobiography titled, âBorstal Boyâ. The same year, âThe Big Houseâ, a one-act play, was commissioned for the radio. Towards the end of his life, he found it very difficult to manage his fame coupled with his drinking problem and this took a serious toll on his career, which spiraled downwards.

The last two books of his career; âBrendan Behanâs Islandâ and âBrendan Behanâs New Yorkâ were published in 1962 and 1964, in turn. âConfessions of an Irish Rebelâ, âThe Scarpererâ and âAfter the Wake: Twenty-One Prose Works including Previously Unpublished Materialâ, were published posthumously. Major Works âThe Quare Fellowâ, produced in 1954, was his first play set in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin. It was a critical success and premiered at a number of theaters around Europe, running for six weeks. It also debuted at the Circle in the Square Theater in New York in 1958. âBorstal Boyâ, an autobiographical book, published in 1958, enjoyed immense success. The work recounts his experiences at Borstal as a boy. Later, it was also adapted by Frank McMahon and was staged in the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.

A film adaptation, âBorstal Boyâ by Peter Sheridan was also made in 2000. Personal Life & Legacy He married Beatrice Salkeld in 1955 and they had a daughter, Blanaid. He struggled with alcohol all his life, which led him to suffer from uncontrollable diabetes and a number of seizures. In March 1964, he collapsed at the Harbour Lights bar and died at Meath Hospital, aged 41. Many of his works have been mentioned time and again in popular culture. He has been mentioned in songs by âThe Poguesâ such as, âThousands Are Sailingâ and âSea Shantyâ. A pub named after Behan is also located in an Irish locality in Boston. He is also a popular subject of the famous Irish painter, Brian Whelan. A number of books have been written on his life including, âBrendan Behanâ, âMy Brother Brendanâ and âMy Life with Brendanâ.

Trivia This famous Irish writer and playwrightâs favorite drink was a combination of champagne and sherry, which he would always have in excess. This affected his health, which in turn, took his life. Translate this page to Spanish, French, Hindi, Portuguese Pictures of Brendan Behan mudcat.org: Origin: The Old Triangle Date: 22 Jun 06 - 10:20 AM hi hans, as with most prison jargon the obvious explanation is meant for general consumption. however the esoteric version is much more human and indicative of what occupies the majority of a prisoners thinking. sex. the 'auld triangle' is a coloquial term for the genitals. ie in britain 'meat and two veg' [vegitables]etc and the 'royal cannal' is quite simply a womans vagina. ergo the 'banks of,,,' refers to the womans thighs. which in the song intends to show that no matter what time of day or circumastance, the 'auld triangle' is reminding its owner that its still there. which echo's in the use of the steel triangle to signal morning and lights out.

[pavlov might have had something to say along these lines!] hope this helps. Date: 22 Jun 06 - 11:57 AM Jasus! Walt you are letting your overactive imagination run away with you. Mountjay jail is situated on the south bank of the Royal Canal on the nortside of Dublin City. Many years ago (before there were cheap watches or electric clocks) it was customary to ring a bell to let the wardens in the various wings of a prison know the time of day (end of shift, feeding time, lights out etc. etc..). In Mountjoy prison they did not use a bell for this purpose, instead they used a large bar of metal that had been forged into the shape of a triangle (much cheaper than a cast bell) this instrument was suspended on a short chain in the exercise yard of the prison and it was beaten rapidly with a hammer at the oppropriate times. Brendan Behan is reputed to have written this song, he was held prisoner in Mountjoy (universally referred to as the 'Joy in Dublin) Brendan was arrested for attempted murder of a Civic Guard (a policeman).

The song is evocative of the loneliness and tedium that prisoners experience, it is about life in prison it is not about the vagina, the genitals or womens' thighs. Get a grip on yourself Walt, you need to get out more. Fergus From: Big Tim Date: 23 Jun 06 - 01:05 AM Nowadays, Behan's authorship is seldom questioned, but it is very interesting to note how he introduced the song on radio in 1952. "This song was written by a person who will never hear it recorded, because he's not in possession of a gramophone. He'sï¿½he'sï¿½ pretty much of a tramp". The comment is usually interpreted as Behan talking about himself: ironically, and with admirable modesty. However, having listened to the recording, it sounds, to me, more likely that he was in fact talking about another person. There is no hint of ironic humor discernible in his phrasing, and Behan was not renowned for his modesty: certainly not to the extent of crediting something successful that he had written to someone else.

In addition, his biographer Michael O'Sullivan writes that Behan asked for the radio royalty payment to be made to Dick Shannon, a Dubliner: possibly an old pub or prison acquaintance. O'Sullivan also quotes the show's producer, Micheï¿½l ï¿½ hAodha, as stating "he [Behan] never claimed authorship". The 1952 broadcast consisted of only four verses, with three, five and seven above not included. The balance of probability is that Dick Shannon originated the song and that Behan later added to it. From: Abby Sale Date: 23 Jun 06 - 10:53 PM As indicated, Behan used the song, a verse at a time, in between the acts. There's often other "business" going on - the guard making comments about the singer's noise, etc. The exact verses are slightly different from the way MacColl & most others later sing them. He _may_ have been the first to record it. I got interested in the "proper" accent to use. Often it's sung in bog Irish or (more appropriately) prison/street slang, with which Behan would have been very familiar.

The song is written in standard English. The book gives no info on the accent to be used or social class of the singer. Well, other than his current situation. I tried to get hold of an original recording. Turned out (this is mostly anecdotal & newspaper reporting...) the play was first produced in a miniscule theater(re) on zippo budget. To save on salaries, the singer is never seen. He sings from his cell only and is, in fact, a tape recording of Behan, himself. The tape was stored with play paraphernalia and ultimately just disappeared. Gone. Zap. Seems that's pretty definitive. I'm told. A shame. There is no credit (or disclaimer) in the book as to authorship. Date: 24 Jun 06 - 03:30 AM The verse beginning "in the female prison" can surely be nothing other than sexual symbolism? The Royal Canal is simply the Royal Canal. Behan was born at 14 Russell Street, Dublin, between the North Circular Road and the Royal Canal. He played on its banks and learned to swim in its waters. It was important to him.

(And to his brother Dominic, whose ashes were scattered in the Royal Canal). Mountjoy Prison is also on the Canal's banks and would have been visible from inside. The sight of it stretching away in the distance would,for Behan, have been a particularly poignant sight. The Quare Fellow was inspired by the execution of the real life Barney Kirwan on 2 June 1943 (while Behan was inside) for the murder of his brother in a dispute over the inheritance of the family farm. He then skinned the body and buried it in a bog. Behan thought him "bloody gentle", but also, "a complete nut". "The metal triangle used to be rung to call the prisoners to their tasks" - Kathleen Behan, Brendan's mother.

From: Big Tim Date: 24 Jun 06 - 12:16 PM As a matter of interest, other songs that Behan sang on radio that night in 1952 (on 'The Ballad Maker's Saturday Night')included, 'The Boys of Kilmichael', 'The Coolin' (his all-time favorite song), 'The Zoological Gardens', and 'We're Here Because We're Queer' (which resurfaced in his most successful work, 'The Hostage', in 1958). Behan had an excellent singing voice and could probably have made it as a vocalist in a ballad group. The number of songs, and fragments of songs, many self-written, that he scatters throughout his various works, shows that, had he put his mind to it, and stayed off alcohol, he could probably also have achieved major success as a songwriter. After all, he did have an excellent songwriting example within the family, his uncle Peadar Kearney, who wrote the Irish national anthem.

From: Big Tim Date: 05 Jul 06 - 01:43 PM I'm sure it was agreed on another thread that the tune was a slowed down version of 'Galway Shawl'. I think Martin Ryan pointed that out. Re Dominic as the composer; possible but unlikely. Maybe it was a missprint on the record! What date was that recording vectis? There was a dood deal of sibling rivalry between the Behan brothers; for example, Brian claimed to have originated 'McAlpine's Fusiliers'. It would be interesting to know in what year 'Old Triangle' was inserted into the play, which Brendan began writing while in Mountjoy in 1945, when Dom was still very young. (The title 'Quare Fellow' was provided by Alan Simpson and/or his wife Carolyn Swift, directors of the Pike Theatre where the play was first performed. When Swift told Behan that the play would only be produced under the title of 'Quare Fellow', Behan replied, 'for ï¿½30, you can call it the 'Brothers Fucking Karamazov' if you want'.

The original title was 'Casadh Sugï¿½in Eile - the Twisting of Another Rope' (execution rope, get it!) From: GUEST Date: 07 Jul 06 - 07:14 AM "he always sounds a bit of a rum character from stories. Donleavy tells this tale about Behan coming to see him in London, with a story about an American magazine that wants him to write something, so can he borrow JPD's typewriter? Donleavy says no, you just want to pawn it to go boozing. Behan cheerfully admits that is indeed the case, and they sit down together friendly as puppies." My favourite story is about when The Hostage was about to be premiered on Broadway. During rehearsal, Behan asked the director if he could make a sign for the set (the play is set in a whorehouse) which would say "bless this house" in Irish. He explained to the director that every house in Ireland would have one of these on the wall, even a house of ill repute, so the director agreed to this nice little touch of authenticity.

It wasn't till several weeks into the run that the director found out what "Pog mo thoin" actually meant. And he was furious. Back OT: I've seen the Old Triangle at Kilmainham gaol as well, and was strangely moved... From: GUEST,Tom Neary Date: 30 Jul 12 - 01:00 PM I have posted the real explanation of what the Auld Triangle actually was on one of the other threads related to the song...The Auld Triangle was not in fact anything to do with the Joy itself, but was in fact the sound of the metal triangles used by the working boats on the Royal canal. They would make deliveries to the warehouses that ran on the banks opposite the prison, as a warning of a delivery or pick up. These deliveries were at six in the morning and six in the evening, so gave the men inside an idea of the time. Within the context of the song, it also represented a link to the normality of the outside world to the prisoners incarcerated within.

From: GUEST,Tom Neary Date: 31 Jul 12 - 12:25 PM Sminky, Dominic Behan may very well be singing it on your recording, many have, but he definitely did not write the song. If Bert Jansch told you he did, then he has been sadly misinformed. Please take meselfs advice and visit the other thread linked by Ryan Martin, where you will find the real author of the song and it's meaning in the context of the play. You will also find a few other bits of information that may be of interest to you? Of course that doesn't mean that Dominic didn't add on a few verses later, but the basic song as we know it was written by Dickie Shannon...Fact! From: GUEST,Tom Neary Date: 01 Aug 12 - 02:06 PM Sminky...I thought you might come back with that line of doubt, so will only say that you are free to believe what you like, but the truth is there for all to see, should they wish to.

As was quoted in an earlier post, Behans biographer Sullivan, said that Brendan demanded that any royalties should go to Dickie Shannon, as he wrote the song. That is not hearsay, but hard evidence gathered by Sullivan, otherwise i doubt he would have printed it. So obviously the proof is there somewhere? This was also confirmed in the same post, that someone else in a position to know, had received the proof of authorship from Brendan. Exactly how one would go about gathering such evidence, hearsay or otherwise, would i imagine be very difficult at this stage of the game? But if anyone benefited from it's popularity, it certainly wasn't Dickie or his family. Most of his children ended up in care, due to the dire poverty they were living in. Further, I should imagine that Brendans estate have been the main financial beneficieries. But as i stated in another post, Dickie would never have been aware of song rights or royalties, and he most certainly could never have afforded a lawyer to do it for him. He wrote it for a friend and the song is now a part of Irish tradition, which Dickie would have loved. He deserves his due for that at least!!!

It's a shame that others don't want to give it to him, even after almost 60 years... As a bynote...Please understand the point of my posts. It is not my intention to try and garner any financial advantage from Dickies song, but to try and get the credit placed where it truly belongs...With Richard Patrick Shannon (1916-1975), of Wellington Street, Dublin. Yes! A tramp, a drinker, a gambler and a rogue, but never a liar! Dickie detested liars above all else. He always said "a robber was honest when compared to a liar. A liar was the lowest of the low, as they would get you hanged for nothing more than malice"! Besides, Brendan freely admitted who the writer of the song was, not something he would readily have done had it been otherwise, so that should be good enough for both you and Bert Jansch in my humble opinion. If it is not, then so be it!? As for Dominic trying to claim any form of authorship, he should and probably did have knowledge of the songs true author, but it would hardly have been to his advantage to let it be known, would it?

He freely plagiarized others work for his own benefit, so why should this be any different?? So less said is probably soonest mended on that score. The upshot of all this hearsay evidence as you choose to call it, is that it is still evidence that Dicky gave Brendan the song. Until some actual contrary proof is unearthed, then we are stuck with the only evidence available to us, hearsay or not?? Date: 01 Aug 12 - 06:04 PM Hi Sminky, The Lyrics of the Auld Triangle were copyrighted by Brendan Behan and Theatre Workshop in 1956 Fact Dominic Behan published a songbook containing 100 songs called "The Singing Irish in 1967, mostly self-penned. Fact Dominic published another songbook in 1973, called "Ireland Sings", containing another 100 songs. Fact The Auld Triangle does not appear in either book. Fact Bert Jansch, on his 2006 CD "The Black Swan" credits the song to Brendan Behan. Fact. Facts are facts, talk is cheap.

Both Dicky and Brendan could not have envisaged how popular the song would become, or they may have made a better arrangement, Brendan being more interested in the Play than the song. From: GUEST Date: 02 Aug 12 - 02:29 PM Sminky...May i just add that the word hearsay implies nothing more than general gossip. I prefer the word anecdotal, as it describes precisely the situation we are discussing. Verbal evidence has been given by a number of people as to who the real author is, but it probably isn't worth the paper it's printed on??? lol! With that in mind, please don't get into a row about this subject, as it is only a song. As i've said on a number of occasions, It never enriched Dickie while he was alive, and was never that important to him in all fairness. It was if you like, a simple gift to his friend and drinking pal Brendan...FACT!!! I'll leave it there i think?

From: GUEST,John Date: 20 May 13 - 04:40 AM I distinctly remember old westerns where the triangle was used to inform outriders or those working in faraway parts a ranch that a meal was ready to be served. I know this is Hollywood, but a big old open triangle is a pretty easy and effective way to get sound to carry distances. I see nothing strange in Bert's comment either, he was probably stating where he first hear the song, and nothing to do with authorship. Not sure that it would have mattered much to him and I don't think he was a man to use two or three words when one would do. Date: 29 Oct 13 - 01:06 PM I have only ever heard it to Galway Shawl melody. likewise Moreton Bay..........Keith I find it interesing that Moreton Bay and the Auld Triangle have the same or similar airs - (Boolavogue does as well btw) . The triangle was used in prisons throughout Britain and its colonies for the flogging of prisoners : "And Captain Logan he had us mangled upon the triangles of Moreton Bay".

I've suggested to people in Ireland that the original triangle referred to in the song may once have served this purpose. I have yet to find anyone who agreed with me !Any opinions from mudcatters? From: Jim Carroll Date: 12 Apr 14 - 05:57 PM "Sullivan, said that Brendan demanded that any royalties should go to Dickie Shannon, as he wrote the song" This was confirmed in an article in The Irish Times a couple of weeks ago - it was part of an interview with an agent of Behan's. Can't remember the details, but I'm pretty sure it said that Behan instructed the interviewee to send a cheque to an address in Inchicore, where Dickie Shannon was living in at the time - it stuck in my memory because that is where some of my family lived Jim Carroll. From: GUEST,Desi C Date: 20 Mar 15 - 07:48 AM It was written by one of my favourite Irish men Brendan Beham. If one needed qualifications to be an Irish hero, then Behan was over qualified. Born to fiercely nationalist parents, his Brother Dominic was one of Eire's greatest songwriters.

Brendan joined the IRA and was arrested on his first failed mission. Was sentenced to death later commuted to Life, then released under a general amnesty. But while in the despised Mountjoy jail he developed his love for writing. Including the only song credited to him (not as some believe by his brother) The Auld triangle, written for his play The Quare Fella, (about a prisoner awaiting his execution) and surely about his own experiece of Prison. He was also a great raconteur and became a darling of chat shows, in Ireland, England but mostly in America and Canada and was outrageusly critical of Irish religion and government. Heavily alcoholic too and a devout womaniser. His wit was much feted and often quoted.

My favourite quote is on a handwritten note sent to a bar owner in my home town in Ireland, under a framed picture of Behan in the tiny bar it says "fellas, I've just arrived in Canada and saw a sign saying 'drink Canada Dry' I'm about to do my feckin best!" Sadly the drink took him at the height of his fame From: mayomick Date: 20 Mar 15 - 08:56 AM Fergie, I asked on another thread if the Old Triangle was originally a flogging triangle : they were once used in British prisons.If there was also a triangle at Kilmainham Jail , the suggestion that the purpose had something to do with the transportation of goods along the Royal Canal doesn't stand up . The song Moreton Bay mentions triangles btw: "Captain Logan had us mangled all on the triangles of Moreton Bay. " Warning : Another Mayomick conspiracy theory /fake folk possibility : My very tentative suggestion if it was a flogging triangle : The Mountjoy prisoner who wrote Auld Triangle song had once heard the song Moreton Bay .

Date: 23 Sep 15 - 01:38 PM RE MartinRyan My account above is as correct a version of the origins of this song as is possible to get. Frankly I'm amazed at the sheer ignorance of a few posts on here. You can check my version with any historical account of Behan's life or with any Irish musical Scholar, though none come higher rated than my good self. With references to those who claim The Auld triangle is a term for human sexual organs, Brendan was a man of great humour but he would have certainly laughed at that, it os of course total nonsense. Soodlums is also wrong re The Trisoner. Behan wrote the song long before The Prisoner was even conveived, where on earth they got that from is a mystery!

From: Matthew Edwards Date: 24 Sep 15 - 04:07 PM Brendan Behan recorded an LP of songs, I think based on a radio broadcast, which was released in 1960 in the USA on the Spoken Arts label, 760 LP, Brendan Behan Sings Irish Folk Songs and Ballads and in the UK on the Argo label, RG239LP, as Brendan Behan sings songs from The Hostage and Irish Ballads. The LP can be heard on You Tube Brendan Behan Sings ; at 30:37 Behan introduces the song 'The Old Triangle' by saying "This other song was written by a person who will never hear it recorded because he's not in possession of a gramophone; he's...he's pretty much of a tramp." This matches very closely the account given above by Tom Neary about Dickie Shannon as the author of the song, and it certainly confirms that Brendan Behan didn't claim to have written it himself, nor do there seem to be any grounds for attributing it to Dominic Behan.

I know that both Brendan and Dominic Behan enjoyed sowing confusion about questions of song authorship - I certainly was misled by Dominic's mischevious attribution of The Twang Man to Zozimus! - but Tom Neary's story and the account given by Brendan Behan's biographer Michael O'Sullivan that Behan ordered the royalties from a radio broadcast of the song to be paid to a Dick Shannon all look like strong and consistent evidence in favour of Dickie Shannon as the writer. It would certainly be a great idea to mark Dickie Shannon's grave in Manchester with a plaque. Matthew From: GUEST,Deasï¿½n ï¿½Seanï¿½in Date: 25 Sep 15 - 03:28 PM After this well put reply by Matthew to all the 'experts' in this thread my uncle Dickie Shannon is gaining ground. However my family background of lower working class outsiders with little clout or power makes it very difficult when up against the many followers of Brendan Behan one of Ireland's greatest playwright. Brendan like myself learned Irish and that's a good thing to have in common.

Beidh an 'Sean Triantï¿½n'(Old Triangle) ag bualadh ar bhruach na Canï¿½la Rï¿½ogach le fada. Deasï¿½n ï¿½Seanï¿½in The Evening Live Drive: December 2013 The Evening Live Drive Monday to Friday 4 - 7 on 103.2 Dublin City FM Monday, December 23, 2013 "On Raglan Rd", the well know Patrick Kavanagh poem, was set in which month? November. From the first line we know its Autumn, the second verse starts: On Grafton Street in November, We tripped lightly along the ledge" Google bought Dublin’s tallest commercial office block in 2011 for €100m. Name the building? Montevetro Which word or name links a horse racetrack in Baltimore,home to the Preakness Stakes,the only station on London Underground's Victoria Line to have no form of interchange and an area in dublin? Pimlico What county Dublin pub is also the name of a 60's oscar nominated movie?

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Mint Its divided into 24 parts, and it was painted by Jack Butler Yeats 1916. What is it? Dublin quays What is the oldest hotel in Dublin in continuous existence? The Castle Hotel on Great Denmark Street was established in 1809, Gresham Hotel (1817), Shelbourne Hotel (1824). A lot of the roads in Drimnagh are named after mountains. Can you tell me what area of dublin has many roads named after poets? Walkinstown A lot of the roads in Drimnagh are named after mountains. Can you tell me what area of dublin has many roads named after Monestries? Crumlin Name the church in Dublin city which claims to hold the remains of ST. Valentine? Carmelite Church in Whitefriar Street How much did a hamburger cost in McDonalds when it first opened in Dublin in 1977? 28p Mercer st in Dublin takes its name from which industry? Clothes & textiles Name 4 Dublin areas that end in the letter Y?

Cabinteely, Dartry, Raheny, Balally, Donnycarney, Dalkey, Santry, Kiliney What is the highest seated capacity stadium outside Dublin? McCale Park, Castlepark Where in Dublin would you find a measurement at the centre of the world? Inchicore Which former Irish politician has played inter county football and international rugby? Dick Spring Opened in 1950, Name Dublins oldest restaurant that is still open today? Beaufield Mews, Stillorgan. Comeheretome.com Posted by Important Newlands Cross Upgrade Information This Friday 13th of December, (Don't be so superstitious) The N7 Naas Road outbound will see some dramatic changes in its layout. The changes will be made in the evening between 9.30 PM and 6 AM this will have an impact on traffic as will the changes as drivers get used to the new layout. The main points we would like to get across to motorists are as follows: The N7 outbound traffic will be diverted onto new temporary lanes. Most of you will have noticed the construction of these lanes over the past few months.

There will be 3 lanes plus a bus lane in place, in addition to the right and left turn filter lanes onto Fonthill and Belgard Roads (similar to the existing layout). There will be orange road markings, to show the temporary nature and the extent of the temporary diversion. There is a 60kph statutory speed limit in place through the works area. We strongly urge all road users to comply with the 60kph speed limit, in the interests of the safety of road users, the public and the construction workers. The Gardaí will be enforcing the speed limits through this area. There are cyclist and pedestrian facilities available from the Red Cow to Newlands Cross. There are no dedicated cyclist or pedestrian facilities west of Newlands Cross on the N7. There will be 3 traffic lanes available, with no hard shoulder. Of course this will cause problems if there are breakdowns or collisions. A diversionary route will be put in place for cyclists wishing to travel west from Newlands Cross towards Citywest. South Dublin Co Co strongly advise cyclists to use this route, in the interests of their safety. Stay tuned to Live Drive for further information.

Posted by Changes to Newlands Cross Inbound Today There is a new layout on the N7 inbound before Newlands Cross. The right lane at the Green Isle has been taken out. Basically everything has shifted over a lane with the bus lane no longer being a bus lane. The markings have been burnt off the road but it caused a load of confusion this morning. It also makes it difficult for traffic to merge from Boot Rd to the N7 inbound. This has an impact on the road which runs at the back of the Green Isle Hotel (St. John's Drive or the Old Green Isle Rd). This morning this saw sever congestion with tailbacks as far as Kingswood. Posted by Book of Condolence for Nelson Mandela opens at Mansion House today By request of the South African Ambassador to Ireland Jeremiah Ndou, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Oisín Quinn will make a Book of Condolence available for signing at the Mansion House, Dawson Street, to mark the passing of Nelson Mandela, from 2pm today, Friday 6th December. “I am opening this Book of Condolence to allow the people of Dublin an opportunity to express their own feelings for the loss of Nelson Mandela, Freeman of Dublin.

He was an inspirational man who delivered his nation from the dark days of apartheid to democracy through peaceful reconciliation.” said the Lord Mayor. The Book will be available for signing as follows: Friday, 6th December, 2013. 2pm – 5pm Saturday, 7th December, 2013. 10am – 5pm Sunday, 8th December, 2013. 10am – 5pm On Monday 9th December the Book of Condolence will then be moved and opened at the South African Ambassador’s Residence at 20a Shrewsbury Road, Ballsbridge until Friday from 10:00 – 15:00. Posted by 1 Hour Free Parking Courtesy of DCC and Pazone.ie Here's something that will bring a smile to everyone's faces. Dublin City Council are giving anyone who buys a minimum of one hours parking via the payzone retail option an additional hour free.

A complementary offering to the hugely successful pay by phone Parking Tag service , the pay in store option allows motorists to go to their nearest convenience store (Newsagents, Spar, Centra, Londis, SuperValu, Mace etc.) which is a Payzone outlet and pay for parking. Drivers provide their car registration, the zone colour that they are parked in and duration of stay. Drivers are not required to return to their car with their receipt they simply pay and walk. The transaction is processed in real time, which gives parking enforcers visibility of the payment made. A full list of participating stores (almost 300 in Dublin City) can be found HERE Posted by A convoy of exceptionally-sized vehicles will leave Dún Laoghaire Harbour en route to the Diageo Plant (Guinness’s) on Victoria Quay near Heuston Station at 10pm on tonight. The estimated time of arrival at Diageo is 6am tomorrow morning.

The convoy will be travelling along the following route: Dún Laoghaire Harbour – Monkstown Crescent – Rock Road – Merrion Road – Shelbourne Road – Grand Canal Street Upper- Clanwilliam Place - Mount Street Lower - Merrion Square North - Clare Street - Contra Flow will be in place on Leinster Street South - Nassau Street – Grafton Street Lower and College Green. Convoy will then continue along Westmorland Street – Aston Quay – continue along South Quays and enter the Diageo Plant at Victoria Quay. Posted by Mountjoy by Morrissey Songfacts Mountjoy by Morrissey Songfacts Songfacts On this somber tune, Morrissey explores the Dublin prison where Republican writer Brendan Behan did time for the attempted murder of two Irish detectives. Behan set his most famous play, The Quare Fellow, in Mountjoy jail.

Producer Joe Chiccarelli told Radio.com that the drums were programmed "to sound like the metal of a prison door, to evoke the concrete, the unhappy inmates." The Quare Fellow Remind Me The Quare Fellow Writer director Arthur Dreifuss made a rare foray into A productions with the 1962 prison drama The Quare Fellow, adapted from Brendan Behan's first play. Although he and co-writer Jacqueline Sundstrom made some significant changes to the original, The Quare Fellow remains a fascinating look at life in a Dublin prison and contains one of Patrick McGoohan's best leading performances. Behan's 1954 play had become an international sensation when produced by Joan Littlewood's improvisational Theatre Workshop in 1957. It told of the reactions among convicts in an Irish prison to the arrival of a "quare fellow," an unseen prisoner condemned to death for a crime never discussed, though it clearly is an object of disgust to the other men. With its claustrophobic atmosphere and liberal use of Irish slang and folk music, the play captivated audiences and launched Behan on his brilliant though tragically short career.

One of England's greatest producers, Anthony Havelock-Allan, picked up the film rights, hoping to add the picture to a string of hits that included Noel Coward's World War II drama In Which We Serve [1942] and David Lean's acclaimed Brief Encounter (1945, from a Coward play). He turned the production over to Arthur Dreifuss, a German-born director who had spent most of his career in Hollywood directing and occasionally writing B movies like Eadie Was a Lady [1945], with Ann Miller, and Boston Blackie's Rendezvous [1945]. Most recently, Dreifuss had been working with producer Sam Katzman on such drive-in fodder as Life Begins at 17 [1958] and Juke Box Rhythm [1959]. In adapting the play, Dreifuss and Sundstrom turned Behan's rollicking folk drama into a social-problem film focusing on the evils of capital punishment.

Although they kept much of his prison atmosphere and, as in the play, kept the main convicted prisoner unseen, he opened the story up with scenes set outside the prison and shifted the focus from the ensemble to a new prison guard (McGoohan) who starts out believing in capital punishment and, through his involvement in the quare fellow's case, comes to change his views. The most extreme changes, however, related to the condemned man's crime, which is clearly defined as a murder committed in a moment of passion. To accommodate that change, Dreifuss added a female lead to the all-male play, casting popular film star Sylvia Syms as the condemned man's bitter, hard-drinking wife whose involvement with McGoohan could bring out a secret capable of changing the man's sentence. One wise move Havelock-Allan and Dreifuss made was shooting The Quare Fellow on location in County Wicklow, Ireland, giving the picture an air of authenticity. Adding to that atmosphere was Peter Hennessey's stark black-and-white cinematography. The film's greatest asset, however, was McGoohan's performance in the leading role.

McGoohan was working extensively in film and television and on stage at the time, and had won a British Academy Award for his television work in 1960. He also had spent a year in the popular British series Danger Man, which would be revived in 1964 and sold in U.S. syndication as Secret Agent. His role as Crimmin in The Quare Fellow was a distinct change of pace from his stage typecasting as angry young men and his usual film roles as fiery troublemakers. Also, the role of a farm-raised Irishman allowed him to draw on his roots in rural Ireland (although he had been born in the U.S., his parents had returned to Ireland while he was still young). The Quare Fellow received solid reviews in both England, where it received the British Producers' Association Award for Best Film, and the U.S, with many critics hailing its sense of atmosphere, McGoohan's performance and the work of the supporting cast. The film's only drawback, in the eyes of many critics, was the unnecessary and poorly rendered supporting performance by Sylvia Syms. Nonetheless, the film did not move Dreifuss permanently into top productions.

He would soon return to work with Katzman, directing exploitation fare such as Riot on Sunset Strip [1967] until his retirement in 1968. McGoohan, however, would continue building his career with the second run of Danger Man and the cult television hit The Prisoner. Producer: Anthony Havelock-Allan St Joan and other martyrs | Global | The Guardian St Joan and other martyrs Bureaucrats have starved British theatre and all but destroyed its ability to change hearts and minds Contact author Tuesday 24 September 2002 21.11 EDT First published on Tuesday 24 September 2002 21.11 EDT Close This article is 14 years old Why can't we cope with genius? Joan Littlewood, who died this week, and Peter Brook were the two greatest theatre directors to emerge in postwar Britain. Yet both ended up in exile as victims of the British indifference to pioneering visionaries. Brook, unable to fund a theatrical research centre at home, moved to Paris in 1972 where he thrives to this day.

Littlewood, defeated by the need to sustain Theatre Workshop through West End transfers and by public rejection of her plans for a Fun Palace, retreated in 1976 to the French countryside from which she rarely emerged. Littlewood's "crime", in officialdom's eyes, was that she was always two steps ahead of the game. She was a European, absorbing Stanislavsky, Brecht and the movement techniques of Laban, at a time when British theatre was profoundly insular. She believed in releasing inherent talent long before "access" and "community" became buzzwords. And she demonstrated theatre's ability to instruct delightfully, long before "political drama" turned into an established genre. It is worth recalling that Theatre Workshop toured postwar Britain with a piece called Uranium 235 that sought to explain the history of atomic energy: it even had Niels Bohr and Max Planck elucidating quantum theory in the guise of a couple of knockabout comics. The real scandal of Littlewood's story, however, is that her triumphs were achieved in the teeth of official hostility.

When Theatre Workshop, then based in Stratford East but still unsubsidised, was asked to represent Britain at the Paris International Festival in 1955, the company was so poor they had to transport the set for Volpone as individual hand luggage: after their spectacular Paris triumph, the French had to lend them the money to get home. And as late as 1972 the Arts Council was still haggling over whether to give Littlewood's company a grant of £41,000. Her career proves that it doesn't pay to be an artist in a world run by bureaucrats. But the miracle is how much she achieved in spite of opposition. And, in all the tributes to her, too little attention has been paid to an innate political radicalism that has all but disappeared from our stages. A classic case was her production of Brendan Behan's The Quare Fellow in 1956: set in a Dublin prison on the eve of an execution, the play remarkably combined gallows humour with a Swiftian moral rage at the barbarity of ritualised hanging.

Despite the play's Irish setting, there was no mistaking its relevance to our own society, where capital punishment remained on the statute book thanks to a mixture of political cowardice and public apathy. But if any one show demonstrated Littlewood's ability to change hearts and minds, it was Oh What a Lovely War in 1963. Whole generations have now grown up persuaded of the criminal futility of the military conduct of the first world war in which, as Lloyd George said at the time, soldiers were "driven to slaughter like cattle". But in 1963, in spite of books like Robert Graves's Goodbye To All That or Leon Wolff's In Flanders Field, it was still not a universally held truth. Through its aesthetically bril liant mix of musical nostalgia and brutal fact, Littlewood's show did more to change public perceptions than any work of literature. That is Littlewood's real legacy: the ability to express political ideas in a popular form. And shows like Hang Down Your Head And Die (an anti-capital punishment revue), Peter Nichols' Poppy and the plays of John McGrath were all beneficiaries of the Littlewood style.

But, when you look around British theatre today, it is hard to find anyone left who has that gift for marrying radical content and popular form. Good political plays occasionally still get written and Kilburn's Tricycle Theatre has an excellent record in staging docudrama such as The Colour of Justice. Meanwhile musicals, lulling us into a state of benign acceptance, continue to proliferate. But where is the artist who today combines a political instinct with the popular touch? Even if one emerged, I wouldn't give much for his or her chances. For we still prefer institutions to individuals and fail to nourish odd, unclassifiable talent. Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod may be working on the Stratford Academy's King Lear, but their company, Cheek by Jowl, has disappeared and they are far more honoured abroad than at home. Ditto Simon McBurney and Théatre de Complicité. Stephen Daldry is directing a Caryl Churchill play at the Royal Court but is another maverick talent without a permanent base.

And the last time I spoke to Jonathan Kent, at the end of his triumphant tenure at the Almeida with Ian McDiarmid, he was busily commuting between new projects in Tokyo and New York. We talk of the brain drain in science and industry. But we have still myopically failed to learn the crucial lesson of Littlewood and Brook: that we need to back visionary individuals as much as bricks and mortar if we are not to end up with a totally compliant, conformist, bureaucratic culture. · Michael Billington is the Guardian's theatre critic

Question: Which famous work by Brendan Behan is set in a Dublin prison?
Answer: THE QUARE FELLOW